Two 'Cats' return to the fold

Updated 4:34 pm, Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Amanda LaMotte (from left) and Craig Donnelly play Tantomile and Coricopat in the national tour of 'Cats.' Courtesy of Tony Ray Hicks

Amanda LaMotte (from left) and Craig Donnelly play Tantomile and Coricopat in the national tour of 'Cats.' Courtesy of Tony Ray Hicks

Two 'Cats' return to the fold

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“Cats” has been through town a few times over the years, but there will be something a little different about the production that spins through the Majestic Theatre next week.

The Jellicle tribe — the cats who gather in the show — will have grown by two since the last time when the show returns next week.

Tantomile and Coricopat, psychic twins who haven't been part of the action since the first national tour way back in the '80s, have been re-introduced.

“They were originally in the Broadway production and in the London production, and when I joined the show in 1985 (as dance captain and Coricopat) they were a part of the company,” said director/choreographer Richard Stafford, who has worked with the show many times since then and worked on the current tour. “When the tour that this was based upon went out in 1987, to create a leaner production, these two characters were deemed dispensable.”

When he was working with Gillian Lynne, the show's original choreographer, to re-mount the show for the tour, she wasn't happy that the psychic cats had been eliminated. Lynne's assistant told them that, in Australia, the touring productions have swings — basically, understudies for multiple roles — who alternate playing Tantomile and Coricopat.

“I thought that was a great idea, and that's what we did this year,” Stafford said. “It really worked.”

The cats “are part of the tribe,” Stafford said. “What sets them apart is that they have psychic abilities, and they foretell coming events. They really do add a lovely texture and depth to the show, which is great to see again.”

Amanda LaMotte and Craig Donnelly make up one of the pairs of twins in the musical. The characters mirror each other's movements, something that they mastered during rehearsals.

“Sometimes, we do it in real life, which is a little bit weird,” LaMotte said.